Tested Out
Finals should be used to help raise students’ grades
Twice a year, high school students around the country stay up late studying for heavily weighted exams that could potentially make or break their grade — these are known as finals.
Not only are these tests usually over material that was covered months ago, but they add a large amount of stress and pressure to students.
However, if students have a good grade in the class, why should they ruin it with a pointless final that could destroy the countless hours of work they put in throughout the semester?
These finals can quickly bring down letter grades, which can affect students’ GPAs and can result in students performing poorly in classes they worked hard to do well in.
The weight and stress placed on these exams result in students staying up late the night before to cram the past 5 to 10 months of material into their brains.
According to a study done at UCLA, students were likely to perform higher on exams when they have had an optimal 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep.
Although it could be argued that students should responsibly study each day to comprehend the material better, this is impossible for many students. This is because many students aren’t given the material for the finals or the reviews until a few days before.
On top of this, many students are busy with extracurricular activities and do not have time to work on reviews or study each day leading up to the final.
The end of the first semester is a busy time for many students, and setting time aside to study is a difficult task.
Being able to opt out of finals would prevent students from feeling pressured to cram and would give the students who want to pull their grades up an opportunity to do so.
If finals have such a large impact on the grades of the students, why should they be used as a possible threat to a student’s grade when it could be used to benefit those who want to bring their grade up?
Should you be able to opt out of finals?
83% said you should be able to opt out of finals
17% said you shouldn’t be able to opt out of finals
*based on a poll of 147 BV students
Charlie Trent is editor-in-chief and is a senior. It is her fourth year on staff. In school, she is involved in Chambers singers as Dance Captain and Choir...
